Rocket package assembly



25, 1954 JEAN-CLAUDE OZANNE 3,145,19

ROCKET PACKAGE ASSEMBLY Filed May 11, '1962 emv yaw/e fizmm United States atent 3,145,619 ROCKET PACKAGE ASSEMBLY Jean-Claude Ozanne, Saibris, France Filed May 11, 1962, Ser. No. 193,942 Claims priority, application France May 15, 1961 3 Claims. (Cl. 89-1.7)

This invention relates to packaged assemblies for smallsized missiles, hereinafter termed rockets.

It is an object of the invention to provide improved packing means for the transportation of field missiles; an object is to provide such means which will be compact and readily stacked; an object is to provide packing means for field rockets which packing means will at the same time contribute to act as launching and aiming means for the rocket in the field. An object is to provide a packaged field missile assembly, a plurality of which can be conveniently stacked, While still permitting access to vital portions of each individual package of the stacked plurality. Other objects will appear.

An exemplary embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of an assembly according to the invention with the rocket withdrawn from the package and mounted in firing position;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are two different perspective views of the closed packaged assembly in condition for transportation.

As shown in the drawings, the field rocket packing means provided according to the invention comprises a casing made of suitable plastic material in two parts, including an upper part 1 and a lower part 2 which are flanged so as to interfit snugly on a horizontal midplane, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and are provided with interengaging fastener devices 3 of any appropriate type.

The casing parts 1 and 2 are conformed so as to provide when assembled a casing of generally rectangular box-like over-all shape as shown, but their walls present a variety of local departures from the simple rectangular geometric configuration of a box in order to provide the various internal recesses and other configurations required to accommodate snugly the parts of the rocket therein, as will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rocket to be packaged comprises an empennage including the four tailfins 4 at its rear end and an ogival head 5 at its front end. The tailfins 4 project radially from the cylindrical body 6 in circumferentially spaced relation. The ogival head 5 is detachable from the body 5 and is adapted to be packed separately from said body 6 and tailfins 4 within the casing 1-2.

For accommodating the tailfin structure 4, the casing parts 1 and 2 are each formed with wing-like extensions 10-115 and 2a-2b respectively, each defining an internal recess for receiving a related tailfin. Further, each casing part 1 and 2 is formed between the pair of wing-like extensions with a part-cylindrical wall portion 10 and respectively, which together receive the cylindrical body part 6 of the rocket between them. The upper casing section 1 is formed at its top with a generally cylindrical lengthwise-extending protrusion 1d which defines an upper recess within the casing for receiving the detached ogival head 5.

A plurality of casings of the kind just described are adapted to be stacked one on top of another with the upper protrusion 1d of one casing fitting snugly into the recess defined in the under part of an overlying casing between the wing-like extensions such as 2a and 2b of the latter.

In the top of the upper casing section 1 of the assembly it will be noted, e.g. from FIG. 3, that there are defined a pair of end recesses 1e and 1 which are laterally bounded by the outer end parts of the wing-like extensions 1a and 1b, and which extend from each longitudinal end of the casing section 1 to points adjacent the related ends of the protrusion 1d. Bridging each of these recesses 1e and 1 are a pair of cross bars 1g and 1h which have their ends secured to the respective sloping inner walls of the wing-like extensions 1a and 1b, which cross bars serve a dual purpose. They serve as hand bars or grips to facilitate manipulation of the packaged assembly and also as a means for mounting the missile in firing condition atop the casing as will be presently explained. It will be noted that the crossbars 1h and 11g do not project beyond the outer cross sectional contour of the assembly and hence do not interfere with stacking and storage.

As is especially apparent from FIG. 3, the upper protrusion id is longitudinally situated off-centre of the upper casing section 1, and accordingly the end recess 1e is longer in axial extent than is the other end recess 1 Within the end recess 1e and adjacent its inner wall there is thus defined an auxiliary compartment which, in this embodiment, receives an electric battery 9 serving to energize the electric firing circuit of the rocket. Owing to this arrangement, it Will be clear that with a plurality of the assemblies stacked as earlier described, access may be easily had to the battery 9 of each individual assembly. This is a desirable advantage, since it will be realized that during prolonged storage the batteries would have to be renewed at periodic intervals. Additionally or alternatively, they may have to be tested, or inserted only a short time before actual use. With the packaging means described, all such operations can easily and quickly be carried out without having to pull down the entire stack of packaged assemblies (as would otherwise be required), since each battery 9 is individually accessible from the end of the related assembly through the end recess 1e thereof.

In use, when the missile is to be fired the casing is first opened by actuating the fasteners 3, the rocket is withdrawn in two parts, and the head part 5 is fitted to the body part 6. The assembled rocket is then set up in firing position upon the upper section 1 of the closed casing, using the crossbars 1g and 1h as supporting means therefor. For this purpose there are provided auxiliary supporting means which, in the form shown, include a telescopic prop member 8 having its lower end insertable into a hole formed in the top center of crossbar M and its upper end insertable into a hole formed at a suitable position in the front end of the body of the missile. Said auxiliary supporting means further include a rear member 7 having an intermediate projection engageable with a center hole formed in the other crossbar 1g and having means at its ends for cradling the rear ends of two adjacent ones of the tailfins 4, as shown generally in FIG. 1. The rocket is thus supported in firing position with sufficient firmness form firing purposes, and telescopic adjustment of the prop 8 provides a means of crude vertical adjustment for aiming. FIG. 1 further illustrates an electric firing attachment 7a fitted to the tail end of the rocket, and suitably connected through means not shown with the battery 9. It will be understood that the prop 8, cradling member '7 and firing attachment 7a are all received at suitable locations within the casing 12 in the packaged condition of the assembly.

The internal fittings and furnishings of the casing form no part per se of the invention nor have they been shown, and they include any suitable straps or the like fasteners if desired, though any such devices are largely made superfluous owing to the snug fit provided for the various portions of the packaged missile by the casing configuration described.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the single exemplary embodiment illustrated and described without exceeding the scope of the invention. For example the end recess such as 1 may be omitted, and the casing sections are susceptible of various other modifications in form while preserving important aspects of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A packaged rocket assembly of a general parallelepiped configuration comprising a rocket including a tail assembly and an ogival head, said tail assembly having radiating tail fins and said ogival head being detachable from said tail assembly, and casing means for carrying said rocket therein in its disassembled condition, said casing including an upper part and a lower part, said upper part having in the upper surface thereof a pair of hollow, longitudinal Wing-like extensions each of which is comprised of an outer wall which defines the upper part of one longitudinal side of said parallelepiped and an inner wall which extends radially from the center region of said casing to the upper edge of said outer wall, said upper surface also having a hollow protrusion spaced between said extensions and extending above them, said protrusion defining a region which conforms to the shape of said ogival head and having a longitudinal extent which-is less than that of said parallelepiped so that, at at least one end of said upper surface, said extensions are separated by a first recess; said lower part having in the lower surface thereof a further pair of hollow, longitudinal wing-1ike extensions each of which is comprised of an outer wall which defines the lower part of a respective one of said longitudinal sides of said parallelepiped and an inner 'wall which extends radially from the center region of said casing, whereby the space between said last recited inner walls defines a longitudinal recess for receiving the protrusion in the upper surface of a similar casing; the interior portions of said casing defined by said wing-like extensions constituting enclosures for housing respective ones of said tail fins and the interior portion defined by said protrusion constituting an enclosure for housing said ogival head when said rocket is in its packaged condition.

2. A packaged rocket assembly according to claim 1, wherein said protrusion is disposed approximately in the middle of the upper surface of said upper part, an additional recess being disposed in the upper surface of said upper part opposite to the first mentioned recess, compartment means disposed in said additional recess which is readily accessible when the packaged rocket assemblies are in a stacked condition.

3. A packaged rocket assembly according to claim 2,

wherein crossbar means extend across the recesses in said upper part to provide gripping means to handle the packaged rocket assembly and to provide mounting means to mount said rocket in its assembled condition for launching, and elements mountable on said mounting means to dispose said rocket in a predetermined launching position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 455,279 Cunningham June 30, 1891 863,696 Breckenridge Aug. 20, 1907 2,217,455 Price et al. Oct. 8, 1940 2,457,262 Norquist Dec. 28, 1948 2,722,307 Burke et al. Nov. 1, 1955 2,972,933 Guthrie et al Feb. 28, 1961 3,015,992 Ranson Jan. 9, 1962 3,040,879 Planitzer June 26, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,260,965 France Apr. 4, 1961 

1. A PACKAGED ROCKET ASSEMBLY OF A GENERAL PARALLELPIPED CONFIGURATION COMPRISING A ROCKET INCLUDING A TAIL ASSEMBLY AND AN OGIVAL HEAD, SAID TAIL ASSEMBLY HAVING RADIATING TAIL FINS AND SAID OGIVAL HEAD BEING DETACHABLE FROM SAID TAIL ASSEMBLY, AND CASING MEANS FOR CARRYING SAID ROCKET THEREIN IN ITS DISASSEMBLED CONDITION, SAID CASING INCLUDING AN UPPER PART AND A LOWER PART, SAID UPPER PART HAVING IN THE UPPER SURFACE THEREOF A PAIR OF HOLLOW, LONGITUDINAL WING-LIKE EXTENSIONS EACH OF WHICH IS COMPRISED OF AN OUTER WALL WHICH DEFINES THE UPPER PART OF ONE LONGITUDINAL SIDE OF SAID PARALLELEPIPED AND AN INNER WALL WHICH EXTENDS RADIALLY FROM THE CENTER REGION OF SAID CASING TO THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID OUTER WALL, SAID UPPER SURFACE ALSO HAVING A HOLLOW PROTRUSION SPACED BETWEEN SAID EXTENSIONS AND EXTENDING ABOVE THEM, SAID PROTRUSION DEFINING A REGION WHICH CONFORMS TO THE SHAPE OF SAID OGIVAL HEAD AND HAVING A LONGITUDINAL EXTENT WHICH IS LESS THAN THAT OF SAID PARALLELEPIPED SO THAT, AT AT LEAST ONE END OF 